Progressive Caucus flexes its muscles

The greatest winner in Friday's vote to pass the supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan is undoubtedly America's security and foreign policy. The bill, which deserved to pass despite its imperfections, does right by our troops in requiring that military officials certify units for full mission capability before deployment. It directs the President to transmit to Congress benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet by specified dates, and requires redeployment in the event that these deadlines are not met. It provides funding for, among other things, food aid to Africa and Afghanistan, veterans' health programs, and peacekeeping operations. It is a step in the right direction, and you can see a summary here or the entire text here.

The second biggest winner is the Progressive Caucus. It is no exaggeration to say that the Progressive Caucus was decisive in the debate, and the decision of its leadership to release its members to support the party by voting for the bill was absolutely the right move. Make no mistake: the Progressive Caucus could have torpedoed the bill, but to exercise its power in such a manner would have been grossly counterproductive for the party and for the nation. The Caucus was able to extract important concessions from leadership and ultimately did the right thing by releasing -- though not pressuring or forcing -- enough members for the bill to pass.

For those legislators who have opposed the Iraq war from the beginning -- and done so by refusing to vote to allocate funding for it -- this bill was an impossible choice: having to choose between voting for funding for the war or beginning to establish timelines to end it. As I wrote last week, I think the bill deserved a yes vote, but I understand the reasons of some progressives who see it as enabling. In the end, progressives were heard loud and clear, and they helped their party at the same time.

Honestly, the fact that the Progressive Caucus was organized and disciplined enough to whip this vote is impressive in itself. Progressives, long disorganized (and, accordingly, marginalized) are becoming a force to be reckoned with in Congress, and I hope they will continue to act this judiciously in the ongoing efforts to secure our defense and our foreign policy by changing the course in Iraq.